


Hospital Room + Cast + Dark Thoughts

by EWM



Series: Comfortember (myfirstone!!) [10]
Category: MacGyver (TV 2016)
Genre: Comfort, F/M, Fluff, Hurt Angus Macgyver (Macgyver 2016), Mac stuck in hospital, POV Riley Davis, Riley Davis dealing wit her feeling for Mac, Riley alone with her thoughts, Riley scared of her thoughts, Whump, love and pain, so much fluff and cuddles
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-13
Updated: 2020-11-25
Packaged: 2021-03-09 22:41:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,244
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27544012
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EWM/pseuds/EWM
Summary: Written with Day 10 Comfortember in mind – CRYINGOne for the Mac and Riley shippers out there :) Riley keeps a vigil at Mac's bedside in hospital
Relationships: Angus MacGyver & Desiree "Desi" Nguyen, Riley Davis & Angus MacGyver (MacGyver TV 2016), Riley Davis/Angus MacGyver (MacGyver TV 2016), Wilt Bozer & Angus MacGyver (MacGyver TV 2016)
Series: Comfortember (myfirstone!!) [10]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1996306
Comments: 16
Kudos: 96
Collections: Comfortember 2020





	1. Chapter 1

Mac lays there in bed, so still, so quiet, Riley thinks she’s never seen Mac so unmoving before, so lacking in activity. But there he is, absolutely silent. He’s intubated, there’s an IV in his arm feeding him a variety of antibiotics and heavy-duty pain killers. His other arm is in cast; he’s going to hate that when he wakes up she thinks….if he wakes up. No she won’t go there, she can’t, if she does her heart will break in two and where will that leave anybody?So Riley Davis swallows her pain down and coughs a little. She gets up and flicks Mac’s hair of his eyes, underneath his matted hair, there is a huge raised cut, carefully stitched up by the surgeons. She can feel her hands shaking.

Never has she seen Mac look vulnerable and she doesn’t know what to do. He breathes in and out slowly, aided by machines. Her eyes travel down the bed, one of his legs is wrecked, broken in four different places, two of them are severe fractures. The doctors are scared Mac might not walk again…if he survives…no she tells her brain… she will not go there. She won’t. His leg is in cast too of course and raised high, extra blanket and bedding have already been wrapped around him to give his weakened body extra support. Riley’s eyes spy Boze’s drawings on the cast, they are only pencil at this stage, but they are detailed, a swiss army knife, their house, a gold retriever puppy. Riley smiles at the joke, but there is a horrible pain at the bottom of her stomach.

She adjusts herself in the horrible chair, her back protesting with every movement she makes. The others went home hours ago, she is the last. She will not leave Mac’s bedside insisting that if the roles were reversed Mac would do the same for her. It was easy to say that when everyone was here, but now Riley Davis is cold and alone and scared. Scared of Mac in this wrecked state, scared of what will happen, scared of her own mind, scared of her own feelings. Horrible images dance in her brain, Jack glaring at her angry and furious – she failed them, Matty and Boze turning away and perhaps the worst of all there is Mac, but not the Mac she knows…this Mac has no colour in his face, he is cold and lying down, his hands are folded, he lies there in a pristine suit. He is surrounded by those he loves, there are tears and fine words and when all the fine words are done there is only a gravestone

Riley shakes her head back and forth, forcing the images out of her head. She is so very tired at this stage, she can barely function, part of her wants to just collapse on the floor. But she will not, she will be there to welcome Mac when…that’s right when he opens his eyes…whether it’s today or the next day or the next, she will be here. So Riley Davis does what she always does when part of her can’t cope, she pulls out her laptop and starts to type, nothing hard, basic coding practice. Something to occupy herself, to pass the hours, she doesn’t trust herself to speak to Mac, although the doctors said it could only help, to hear friendly voices, the voices of those he loves.

Loves…what a joke. Part of Riley wishes she her feelings for Mac would just disappear, they had caused her nothing but trouble, nothing but pain. It makes every mission twice as hard. She honestly doesn’t know how Mac and Desi do it….ah Desi. Someone she liked, someone she trusted, now that was tangled up in her feelings for Mac. They came on so gradually, she almost didn’t register them, a hammering heart, her whole mood lifting whenever she saw him, the fact…that he was always there, a shoulder to cry, someone to share a joke with. In Germany it had come to a head, they had hugged each other, and the moment lasted just a little too long and then she knew. Mac had never said anything to her, he remained as he always, by her side, willing to drop anything when she needed him and she had done the same for him so when everyone thought he had gone bad…gone to the other side. It was Riley who came for him…it was Riley who backed him, when he thought he was going to die, it was Riley’s hand he grabbed…and…that was that.

But now it was different, Mac was here, trapped, she couldn’t help. She couldn’t do anything other than be here and…be useless by his bedside and she hated it. She hated every second of it. But she couldn’t leave…she wouldn’t leave it….the masochist in her would see this through to the end…however it did end. These thoughts span around in Riley Davis’s head in a dark hospital room as she typed quietly, every so often she would look up and there he was, nothing changed, still there, still vulnerable. Riley tried to fill her head with happy memories of Mac, his smile, his eyes, Mac giving her presents, hugging her, making snow for her and that in the end produced tears…so many tears. Riley Davis didn’t cry very often; tears never did anything, never helped, growing up in the home she did taught her that and five years in prison drilled it into her brain even more. Tears meant only weakness…only pain.

But for Angus MacGyver, she wept, she cried buckets of tears, angry snivelling tears, weeping tragic movie tears, as they came down she took Mac’s hand in hers.

“Mac…please don’t leave me. II can’t….I don’t want you to go…I know you’ve been so scared and angry. I know you’ve felt so lost, I’ve seen it. But please know that…you have a family…we all want you…we…I love you.”

The words that she has kept buried for so long finally come out as angry exhausted croak. She says them only once, she keeps hold of Mac’s hand squeezing his fingers and closing her eyes as she lays her head on the bed. Then something amazing happens, she feels them squeeze back, her eyes snap open, was it a mistake? A pathetic hope ?? No Mac is squeezing her fingers, his body is moving and then…he wakes. His eyes open, those baby blues are there and foggy, he panics and tries to breath, he moves around, yanking Riley this way and that. He claws at his throat

“Mac…Mac stay calm, you’re okay, you’re in the Phoenix. It’s Riley…you’re okay. Look at me!”

His eyes travel to her and his breathing and his panic starts to slow, Riley is here, he’s fine, he must be home. Riley slams her free hand on the emergency call button and doctors come racing in, Mac gestures frantically for the tube to be removed and they oblige. They pull it out at speed, he breathes a gasping sigh of relief, through all this chaos, he does not once let go of Riley’s hand. After this phone calls are made, the doctors examine Mac, when they try and pry Riley away from him, he point blank refuses and Riley assures them that she doesn’t mind Mac crushing her fingers. Eventually they are both told that the team is coming back, that Mac will have to try and stay awake for more tests. That this is fantastic news, they are all smiling. After a little while there is quiet again and Mac is sitting up in the hospital bed examining his casts and his various injuries poking and prodding himself and Riley sits back with both her hands free and laughs, flicking her hair out of her face. There is a pause and Mac turns back to her and hugs her, squeezes her as tight as he can

“I heard you.” He whispers in her ear. 


	2. Kisses + Blood streak + Brown Eyes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mac goes in for the kiss with Riley 
> 
> COMFORTEMBER PROMPT - KISSES :D Happy reading shippers

Mac eventually stopped hugging Riley, part of him was scared that if he did stop, she’d disappear before his eyes. So, he hung on for an extra few minutes just to be sure. He looked at her afterwards, taking in her whole face, all of her. Her dark brown eyes, they had shadows under them and they looked raw, she’d been crying. He ran his fingers through her hair, the mass of curls that framed her face. He pushed a curl away from her cheek, his other hand gripping her shoulder. It was now or never, he went in for the kiss. It was a kiss he had longed for, for months. Riley responded enthusiastically, wrapping her arms around him and kissing him back passionately. For a few minutes, all the pain and the stress of the past days got forgotten as the duo lost themselves in each other.

When they came up for air, they both laughed suddenly awkward. Then Mac’s broken arm decided to make itself felt and he groaned in pain. Riley gently eased him back onto the bed. Mac took a few deep breaths and waited for the pain to recede, never one for awkward silences, he spoke first

“You know when I pictured this moment, I was hoping I’d at least be ablet to walk, hell I’d even settle for being able to stand.”

“You’ve thought about this?”

“Sure…Riles, look. I know everything is a mess. But I have thought about you, about this, when I’d…when it would all come out so much in the last few months and I guess I hoped it would be a bit more romantic or a least I don’t know normal.”

“Aww Mac, I’m just happy you’re okay.”

“So, do you regret that…I mean what just happened?”

“God no, trust me I’ve been thinking about this. But I don’t know. I guess I wanted to say it, Mac you really scared me.”  
  


“Riley…I’m sorry I didn’t mean too.”

“Mac I know, I mean you were doing the right thing and it all worked out okay and it was fine….just the thought of you not being here.”

“I…I’m sorry I…worried you…”

At this point Riley burst into giggles, the awkwardness of Mac’s comment and her own exhaustion made something in her snap. But he was fine, well fine was putting it a bit strongly, there were bruises all over his face and his arm was still broken and his leg. But he was awake and that was the main thing. Her mind started to wonder and it came to Desi and the potential problems they might face all too quickly

“Mac…I um, I didn’t regret that. But..,um I”

“Desi…”

“Look Riley, I’ve got no idea. Really I don’t, all I know is I was in this horrible blackness, this floating dark space and…well it was your voice that brought me out of it.”

“But it’s all still a mess.”

“I know that too, but…I’ll fix it.”

Riley snorted

“But Riles...I’ve got one favour to ask.”

“Anything.”

“Sit here with me, just for a bit longer and…the problems, they can wait for a few hours more.”

Mac gestured with his hand for her perch on the bed, she raised an eyebrow at this, but he insisted. When the IV started to tangle in her hair, Mac yanked it out. Riley groaned, but he insisted he was just fine, she knew him well enough by this point not to bother arguing. Afterwards she managed to wedge herself next to him, his skeletal thinness serving as an advantage. Mac wrapped his arm round, making sure the blood streak remained on the pillow, she nestled into him and he kissed her head. Just a bit longer he thought, I’ll go back to fixing all the problems tomorrow.


	3. Aurora + Coding + Sleep

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mac and Riley chat while they wait for the doc to examine Mac after his remarkable recovery
> 
> Written for Comfortember - no.23 EXHAUSTIONN

As Riley lay there with Mac’s arm around her, her tiredness and stress caught up with her. One of her arms was going numb and the other she’s had tentatively placed across his chest, doing her best not to hurt him. She blinked several times in an effort to stay awake, but despite her best efforts the adrenaline that had just about kept her functional for the last few days poured out of her into a puddle on the floor. The doctor’s words about keeping awake were in her mind, so she gave her head a little shake and when she registered Mac falling asleep next to her and prodded him gently

“Hey, you’re supposed to stay awake remember. The doctor told you, you have to be up for more tests or something and everyone will want to see you too.”

“Right of course, awake. I can do that.”

They both avoided the subject of Desi, but kept each other close all the same.

“So what do you want to talk about?”

“Not really sure”

“Come on Mac, you can talk for anything usually.”

“Apologies, I’m not at my best at 3am.”

“What was Jack’s phrase? Dazzle me with some brilliance.”

Mac snorted and did his best to come up with something

“Okay, so you remember the Aurora Borealis”

“What?”

“You said come up with something, I’m coming up with something.”

“I’m with you, shinning lights in the sky I’m there. Green dye across the night sky.”

“It’s not technically dye, but yeah, right ballpark.”

“Continue Mac, come on”

“Fine, fine. Okay so the bright dancing lights of the aurora that you describe as green dye are actually collisions between electrically charged particles from the sun that enter the earth's atmosphere. The lights are seen above the magnetic poles of the northern and southern hemispheres.”

“You took the dazzle part, literally didn’t you?”

“Do you want me to continue?”

“Yes, sorry, I promise not interrupt again.”

“Anyway the sets of ‘lights’ they are known as 'Aurora borealis' in the north and 'Aurora australis' in the south.. Auroral displays appear in lots of different colours although pale green and pink are the most common. Shades of red, yellow, green, blue, and violet have been reported. I’ve only ever seen the green ones myself; I’d love to be able to see red and yellow. The lights appear in many forms from patches or scattered clouds of light to streamers, arcs, rippling curtains or shooting rays that light up the sky with an eerie glow.”

“Sounds like the little green men took too much ecstasy”

Mac snorted

“So, tell me why the different colours?”

Mac looked at Riley in surprise, she had wedged herself comfortably next to him, leaning on her elbow. He eased his arm off from around her, so he could sit up more easily.

“You really want to know this?”

“I wouldn’t have asked if I didn’t right?”

Mac nodded and continued on

“Okay well the different colours are dependent on the gases, basically the colour of the aurora depends on which gas **is** being excited by the electrons and on how much energy **is** being exchanged. Oxygen emits either a greenish-yellow light (or a red light; nitrogen generally gives off a blue light.”

“So, there’s more oxygen where the green ones show up?”

“I guess yeah, at that specific bit of the atmosphere, the gas interacting with a higher percentage of oxygen that Nitrogen.”

“Cool.”

“I always thought so.”

“Have you ever seen them? Wait sorry you said you had.”

“Yeah only once, Jack and I were sent to Greenland. Everything went wrong (no I’m not telling you that story. Anyway we got stuck in the middle of the ice waiting for the exfil chopper to arrive and there they were. Despite the horror of the situation I was amazed…I mean it was like…it’s hard to describe. The light was dancing Riles, the green was dancing on the air or that’s how it seemed to me anyway. It was one of the few times I remember Jack speechless (if you can picture that)”

“It sounds amazing, I’d love to see them some day.”

“I’ll take you”

“Preferably without the freezing to death.”

“Obviously, us it would be more, hot coffee and a walk in the snow.”

“You’ve really thought about this haven’t you?”

“Sometimes, in my quieter moments.”

“You have quieter moments in that head of yours?”

“Sometimes…”

Riley giggled, she doubted that was true. Mac’s brain never stopped working, stopped spinning, she occasionally wondered if he even knew what the word quiet even meant

“Okay your turn…”

“My turn?”

“I’ve done my bit to try and keep us awake, you do it now”

“Okay what do you want me to talk about?”

“Anything, you pick.”

“That’s not fair, I’m hardly going to match sparkling greenlights in the sky?”

“Come on Riles…anything”

“Okay….coding?”

“Fine by me, go full throttle.”

“Okay, so I guess the first coding language I ever taught myself was HTML”

“That’s HyperText Markup Language right?”

“Very good”

“Thanks, I do listen, honest.”

“Anyway HTML, I guess could be described as one of the building blocks of the web, it’s certainly one of the most important foundations on the web as a whole . Basically every website out there has at least some HTML, there’s plenty of other languages that produce more elaborate designs or more complicated functions, but HTML is at least part of the core….I mean..”

“Why do you code?”

“What?”

“Sorry I didn’t mean to interrupt, but I always wondered, why do you do it? I mean why do you like doing it?”

“I suppose I do it for, I mean….well why do you like building stuff??”

“Hey this isn’t about me, it’s about you.”

“You first”

“Fine, I build things, I fix things just because I like doing it. I like understanding how the world works and connecting stuff…I guess.”

“There you go…same logic.”

Mac waited for a more detailed explanation, although he knew how computers work, he’d never really got them as a device and he’d always been fascinated by Riley’s ability to take them apart

“Okay so, you like building things and fixing things. Me too, I like understanding how computers work and being able to code is part of that. Look at it this way, if you can code, even if you have the most basic computer in the world, you can still build virtually anything on the web, get into anything. All the doors are still open to you…you can understand everything..”

“So it’s kind of like my swiss army knife?”

“I guess, although I admit I never really thought it like that.”

After that the duo lapsed into a companiable silence and sleep in the way that it so often does over took them. Riley fell asleep first, squishing her arm. Mac watched her quietly, when he was sure she was asleep, he heaved his cast up leg off its hanging support sling and onto the blankets, below. He shifted himself around so he could face her, he lifted himself around fully onto side and then pulled some of the blanket that had been covering the rest of him onto her. He registered her purr as she felt the warmth on top of her, he grinned and shut his eyes, doctors orders be damned.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a note, all my technical explanations came from online. I've altered them a bit to try and make them more reliable, but they are very much from the web :)

**Author's Note:**

> I'm curious do you think I got Riley's internal voice right? I'm pretty new at writing for her so am kind of curious.


End file.
